Improvement in machines for forming hat-bodies



W. H. BROKE.

Machine for Forming Hat-Bodies.

' PatentdSe pt.14,l875.

Z0 nwtiimu N-PETERS. PNOTD-LITNOGRAFNER. WASMNGTON. D C

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. OROKE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PA., ASSIGNOR OF TWO-THIRDS HIS RIGHT TO THEODORE W. HAGAMAN, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR FORMING HAT-BODIES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 167,746, dated September 14, 1875; applicltion filed August 23, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. 011mm, of the city of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Machines for Forming Felt Hat Bodies, of which the following is a specification:

My invention relates strictly to the pickingcylinders of said machines and has for its object the production of a more effective and durable cylinder for the purpose, by the combination, with a cylindrical body, of radial fan-platesand wire picker-teeth, constructed and arranged substantially as will hereinafter be fully and clearly described, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure l is a vertical central longitudinal section of the usual frame of the machine for forming the bodies of felt hats, embodying my said invention; and Fig. 2 a perspective view of my improved picking-cylinder detached from the frame.

The body of the cylinder A I generally make of wood, in one solid piece, with ametallic shaft, a, fixed longitudinally through its center, with projecting ends for its journals, and

I one of them long enough to receive a band,

pulley, a, whereby the rapid rotary motion of the cylinder, supported upon suitable bearings in the frame B, is given by a band, C, driven by a larger pulley, l), in the usual manner, so as to rotate the completed picker-cylinder A about thirty-seven hundred times per minute.

The fan-plates 4 4 4 4 are made of thin sheet metal, and secured firmly and at equal distances apart from each other, parallel with the shaft a, so as to project radially from the surface of the body A of the cylinder about two-eighths of an inch. The length of each fan corresponds with the length of the body of the cylinder.

The picker-teeth 5 5 consist simply of wire (about No. 15) cut off in short pieces and driven into the cylinder A, so as to project radially therefrom, each about three-eighths of an inch, or one-eighth of an inch further than the fan-plates 4. These picker-teeth 4 4 are arranged in two longitudinal rows between each pair of the fan-plates 4 4, at equal distances apart from each other and from the fanplates, substantially as represented in Figs. 1 and 2. The length of the body of the cylinder is about twenty-six inches, and it is about seven inches in diameter. In the drawing, the fan-plates and picker-teeth are shown much larger, in proportion to the size of the body of the cylinder, in order to show them distinctly or more accurately.

The cylinder, rotating at thirty-seven hundred times per minute in the direction of the arrow, (see Fig. 1,) takes the fur from the usual rolls 3 3 by means of the picker-teeth 5 5, while the fan-plates 4 4 produce a strong current of air in the same direction, which carries the fur into the air-current produced by the. usual exhausting-fan E, which operates beneath the usual perforated hollow cone, (not shown,) in combination with the usual adjustable hood F.

I have had one of my said improved pickercylinders A in use for a month to the present time, and there does not appear any indication of wear in either the fan-plates 4 or picker-teeth 5, and believe that a year of such steady usewill not require a renewal of either the fan-plates or the picker-teeth, and,

consequently, that my said picker-cylinders will be far more durable in use than either the usual brush-cylinders or those having teeth formed ,by serrated plates, which wear out in less than a years use, and are also much more costly of construction.

It is believed that the construction and op- I eration of my improved picker-cylinder will be fully and clearly understood without any further description or explanation.

I claim as my invention' The within-described pickercylinder, consisting of the body A, sheet-metal fan plates 4, and the picker-teeth 5, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

WILLIAM H. CHOKE.

Witnesses:

BENJ. MORISON, W H. MoRIsoN. 

